Of the same author:
Of the same author (+)
IF FOR TELLING THE TRUTH...
(1963)
POESIA
(1963)
MY FATHER'S HOUSE
(1963)
LET'S BREAK THE CHAIN
(1963)
Gabriel Aresti
(1933-1975)
Born into a nationalist non-Basque-speaking family in Bilbao. At fourteen he began to study Basque on his own, reading the classics in the City Library and listening to popular verse improvisers. His poetry evolved from the symbolism of his youth to the social criticism of his later years. He exerted an enormous influence of the youth of the 60s and 70s. His work Harri eta Herri (Stone and Country, 1964) is the foundational book of Basque modern civil poetry. He was critical, indulged in controversy and broke the myth of the «Basque believer». He openly stated his left-wing ideas, and also contributed to the updating of song-singing and drama... His death, which coincided with the end of the Franco regime, closed a period of Basque literature.
SHOUTING ON ZORROTZA WHARF
Gabriel Aresti , 1963
The German ship has moored at Zorrotza.
She brings hundred-kilo sacks of cement.
Meanwhile,
Anton and Gilen were
Sawing up a tree trunk
With a saw.
With ropes...
There are no cables...
Tugging and tugging,
Now Anton,
Then Gilen,
When I die, Gilen.
Here in Basque,
There in Spanish.
They were swearing
Because injustice is not polyglot
And treats the Spaniard
In the same way
As the Basque.
I measured the tree trunk.
My spectacles steamed up.
(My mother that night even thought
I had fallen in the river). And I said:
I'll always stand
Beside man.
Anton.
Gilen.
Translation: Toni Strubell
Original version: ZORROTZAKO PORTUAN ALDARRIKA
© Gabriel Aresti
© Translation: Toni Strubell